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Is There a God?

by Keith Sharp

In 1986 a famous visitor made a brief tour of the inner solar system. A luminous body with a long, faint tail hurried on its journey around the sun and returned to the recesses of space. The British astronomer Edmond Halley observed this phenomenon in 1682 and, based on the times of similar sightings in the past, correctly predicted it would return in 1758. He was quite
correct, and this body, which circles the sun about every seventy-five years in its highly
elongated orbit, became known as Halley's comet. In the eighteenth century astronomers worked
out a complex formula, based on Newton's theory of gravity, to accurately predict the orbits of
comets.

So, what's the point? The Hebrew king and poet David asserted that the universe itself
declares the glory of God. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the firmament is
declaring the work of His hands" (Psalm 19:1).

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the existence and predictable operation of
the physical universe, comets included, will lead an honest, intelligent inquirer to believe in the
existence of God.

It Is a Matter of Faith

The scientific method of study, called the "empirical method"" is observation and
experimentation. For something to be truly a matter of science, it must be measurably observed
and the event must be repeatable under the same essential circumstances at different times and
places. If scientists cannot "see" something happen and set up a situation (experiment) at another
time and place so that the same thing happens again, it is not a scientific matter.

For example, who was the first European to discover the Americas? This question is
historical, not scientific. We cannot observe the discovery of America, nor can we experimentally
repeat it. Scientific evidence, such as that gained by archaeologists, may be studied, but
essentially the inquiry is historical rather than scientific.

The God revealed in the Bible is spirit (John 4:24) and has no material existence (Luke
24:39). He is invisible to man (l Timothy 6:16). God cannot be put into a test tube. I cannot
demonstrate by observation and experimentation that God exists, but neither can the atheist prove
He does not. To do so, the atheist would have to be able to observe all portions of the universe at
the same time in both the material and spiritual realm. In other words, to prove by observation
that there is no God, one would have to be God. The existence of God is not a question of science
but of faith.

This does not mean it is unreasonable to believe in God. "Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). The word "conviction" is
translated "evidence" by the New King James Version. "Faith" is conviction about something
we do not see based on evidence.

I believe that Christopher Columbus saw one of the islands of the West Indies on October 12, 1492. I did not and cannot see this happen, and I cannot repeat this in an experiment. But my
faith rests on clear, compelling historical evidence. It is a reasonable faith. I believe the same is
true of my faith in God.

First Argument

Please consider with me three principles of natural science that provide powerful, logical
evidence for our faith in the existence of God.

Law of Causality

The first principle of science is the Law of Causality (Buffaloe 6). In essence, it states
there must be an adequate cause for every effect. This principle is the basis of scientific inquiry.
Natural science deals with the material universe and correctly looks for natural causes to natural
events. Scientists properly attribute an earthquake to the movement of tectonic plates. Whether
the hand of God is behind it is not their business as scientists.

But natural causes can only explain so much. Eventually, one is forced back to the
uncaused First Cause. It is the ageless question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" The
backward chain of events must come to rest somewhere.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Perhaps the most basic principle of physics is The First Law of Thermodynamics. This
law "states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can be changed in form" (Buffaloe 76). High school chemistry students learn to balance chemical equations. Everything
that goes into the chemical process must be accounted for in the product. Nothing comes out of a
chemical process that was not put into it, and whatever is put into the process comes out in one
form or another.

The First Law precludes the reasonable possibility that energy came into being by natural
causes; since, in the natural world, "energy can neither be created nor destroyed."

Second Law of Thermodynamics

This important principle of physics holds that energy tends to dissipate itself ... In other words, the second law relates
energy changes in a system to the organization of that system. Placed in this
context, it states that there is an increase in entropy (disorder or randomness) -
that is, a decrease in organization. Since useful energy is organized energy, an
increase in entropy means a decrease in useful energy (Buffaloe 77).

According to the Second Law, usable energy in a closed system tends to decrease. Things
tend to disorder, not to order. As we drive our cars down the highway, we don't stop to let
gasoline (the energy source) out; rather, we must stop to put more in. The usable energy is
converted to motion and heat.

Think!

Now, please think with me. Either the material universe does exist, or it does not. Of
course, to be rational, we must accept its real existence. Otherwise, there is no such thing as
science, the study of the material universe; and our senses, upon which we depend to gain all
accurate information, are totally untrustworthy.

Further, either the physical universe has always existed, or it had a beginning. The
cosmos has an immeasurably huge amount of usable energy. Our sun, one small star among
numberless stars that compose the Milky Way galaxy, itself one of myriads of galaxies, converts
4,700,000 tons of its own mass into radiant energy each second (Britannica Macropaedia.
17:808). If the universe were infinitely old, all usable energy would have dissipated in the infinite
past. Thus, the cosmos had a beginning.

Atheists once looked to matter and energy as the uncaused first causes. Recent research in
nuclear physics has further revealed the very essence of matter. Physicists now describe energy
particles which compose electrons, protons, and neutrons; which, in turn, are the components of
the atom. In other words, behind all matter is energy. Before there was matter, there was energy.
The only prime mover atheists can propose is mindless energy.

The question, then, is: Is mindless energy an adequate first cause? Either energy is the
uncaused first cause; or there must be a supernatural, i.e., outside and above the realm of the
natural, uncaused first cause. But, since energy cannot be infinitely old (Second Law, i.e.,
entropy), energy cannot be the uncaused first cause. Therefore, we must look for a supernatural
origin of the universe.

As our Explorer satellites ranged deeper into space, past Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus,
and their systems, and finally out of the solar system into the unfathomable recesses of the abyss
beyond, pictures of incredible varieties of chemical and physical forms hitherto unimagined were
sent back to earth. Yet in all this infinite variety is found order. The basic laws of physics and
chemistry which have been found operable in our experience on earth apply as well in these
remote worlds. The Law of Gravity applies precisely the same on Uranus as it does on Earth. Our
universe has amazing order in incomprehensible complexity.

How does one explain such order in diversity? Energy is the only answer available to the
atheist. The universe as a whole must be viewed as a closed system, and energy in a closed
system tends to disorder, not order (Second Law). Thus, again we are forced to look for a
supernatural beginning of the cosmos.

Law of Biogenesis

One of the basic principles of biology is The Law of Biogenesis: "Thus far, life seems to come only from prior life in an unbroken chain, at least under conditions that prevail at present
on earth" (Buffaloe 114). The fact is, there is no compelling evidence that life can possibly come
from nonlife under any conditions, and the evidence is against the existence in ancient times of
the imagined conditions under which life might supposedly have evolved by natural means. The
consistent result of hundreds of years of experimentation about the origin of life has been and
continues to be that life comes only from prior life.

Think!

Either life exists on the earth, or it does not. Again, to be rational, we accept the existence
of life on Earth.

Further, either life has always existed on earth, or it had a beginning. Since life and the
earth are parts of the universe, which had to have a beginning, life had to have begun here
sometime.

Finally, either life came from natural causes or supernatural.
The consistent experience of science is that life does not naturally arise from nonlife, nor
has any experiment ever been conducted under any conditions, which demonstrates that it can.
Thus, if we are reasonable, we must accept a supernatural origin of life on earth.

What Kind of Supernatural First Cause?

In Romans chapter one the apostle Paul shows why the Gentiles needed the gospel. They
had rejected the knowledge of God and were inexcusable for so doing.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).

We should mentally see (understand) what is behind those things we physically see. There must
be an adequate cause (Law of Causality) for the existence of the universe.
What do we understand when we see the material universe?

There must be incomprehensible power behind such an awesome expanse, infinite
intelligence to bring order to such endless variety, and will to accomplish purpose. There must be
eternal existence to qualify as the uncaused First Cause. The attributes of intelligence and will
show this Cause to be a Person, i.e., a Being possessing personality. Having eternal existence and
infinite power and intelligence, this Person must be supernatural. The Bible calls this Person,
who has eternal self-existence, infinite power and intelligence, and will, God.

Conclusion

Imagine, if you will, a print shop containing many reams of paper, gallons of ink, and
thousands of sets of type reproducing over and over the twenty-six letters of the alphabet and the
numbers zero through nine. Due to a gas leak, one great explosion occurs in this shop. Ink, paper,
and type are hurled randomly and violently in all directions. When the dust settles, the smoke
clears, and all components come to rest, the result is all thirty volumes of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica in order with no misspelled words or grammatical errors. Incredible?

And yet atheists demand we believe that the universe, infinite in size and complexity,
incredibly orderly in function, composed of over one hundred chemical elements in virtually
limitless combinations, is the result of a "Big Bang" produced by mindless energy aeons ago. My
mind is not capable of such childish, irrational faith.

Incontrovertibly, the existence and predictable operation of the physical universe, in all its
parts, will lead an honest, intelligent inquirer to believe in the existence of God. Indeed, "The
heavens are telling of the glory of God."

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